Nationally, venture capitalists invested $5.9 billion in 863 companies in the quarter, down about 12 percent from the same quarter last year.

A key reason for the national decline was that venture capital funds have struggled to raise money in the wake of weak investor appetite for initial public stock offerings.

But investors are hopeful that an IPO window will open soon, thanks to a strong stock market and some solid IPO performances. SeaWorld Entertainment, for example, went public late Thursday at $27 a share. The stock ended Friday up 24 percent at $33.52 on its first day of trading.

Besides lower venture capital funding levels, declines in biotech and clean tech funding pushed down first quarter numbers, said John Taylor, head of research at the National Venture Capital Association.

“We expect these overall trends to continue until exits and subsequent fund raising activities pick up, and dollars start to flow back into more venture funds,” he said in a statement.

One bright spot for the quarter was software, which venture investors like because they typically don’t need a lot of money to get customers and show cash flow.

“These capital efficient companies that have shorter time frames to a liquidity event – whether that is a merger or IPO – continue to be attractive to an ever-shrinking pool of VC funds,” said Tracy Lefteroff, a managing partner in the venture capital practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers.